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Crafty

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We FINALLY got our giant print for our kitchen!

One of my good friends recommended this company, where you can upload photos and order posters of pretty much any size and have them delivered!  I am SUPER satisfied with the outcome.  The quality is awesome, and its the perfect addition to our little coffee nook.

My dear friend Kim Bogardus is a pretty spectacular photographer.  She had taken some photos of Brett and I for Christmas last year and we both are so in love with the way they  turned out.  This print was one of our favorites and its fun to turn it into a giant piece of art for our home.

A while back I saw a post on A beautiful mess about industrial sized prints and since then ive been on the hunt for a way to print a color photo that didn’t break the bank.  I also really loved the triangle accents and what they added to it.  It’s a super fun and clever way to add some color especially when you are renting like us.

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I really love the way it turned out and I may order some more of these bad boys for other parts of our home.  Maybe not quite this large and in charge but some bigger ones of our wedding may be nice, and of course some family photos when Penny makes her way into the world : ).

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Hello Little One,

You are just a wiggly little monster.  You move so much that my belly dances around all the time.  Sometimes i know its your bum, which is super bizarre.  The other day you kicked your dad in the face, which made us laugh for a good solid 10 minutes…im sure you felt that.  These days you really enjoy eating whatever is in front of you.  There are some things that your mom and dad loved, that you want no part in at all.  You hate the idea of taco bell or del taco, which is pretty strange to us but a good baked potato and grilled chicken you are all about (which is pretty much what i lived off of before we had to share food with you).

I’ve started crocheting you a little baby blanket (which actually might be quite large, due to the fact i have never made a baby item).  It’s nice to sit and take time to make something for you.  Sometimes when im working my way through it I pray for you and think about what kind of lady you will be.  As weird as it may sound, its been really comforting making it.  I hope its comforting to you to be snuggled up in it : ).  You are so very loved little one.  Your dad and I will most likely get a lot of stuff wrong with you because well…we’re new at this whole thing.  But one thing we promise to always make known to you is that you are loved and so special to us.

We get to see you next week which is always exciting!  We love getting updates on how much your growing : )…although…we can tell from the outside these days that you are not the size of a sweet pea anymore : ).

XOXO,

M

This post is completely unrelated to pregnancy or parenthood.  Gasp!  There are more things to talk about than us having a baby?  Totally.  I mean don’t get me wrong…Penny is awesome, but I am still Katie, and there is a lot more going on in here than just becoming Pennys mom.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way.  Lets talk a little about the fear.  All my creative people say “Haaaaaaaaaaay”.  I’m sure we all have it.  If you don’t id like to know your secret.  Being creative is easy.  Sharing your creativity with the general public is well…not as easy.   There was a period of time in my life where i loved painting and i would sit in my room for hours just making things.  After a night of crafty goodness, i would pack everything up and put it in the closet.  Where it would stay.  Forever.  I never talked about it and i would NEVER have the audacity to call myself an “artist”.  I still cringe at the word.  If anyone ever calls me that I get really uncomfortable and say something awkward like…”i dabble” or “im a doodler”, but I would never voluntarily share that i was an artist.  I still don’t think i am.

Teepee  Campfire

Since the days of sneakily making things in the privacy of my bedroom and locking them away, Ive branched out a little bit and have developed a style that i feel more comfortable sharing.  I even sold a few things which was shocking to me, because i never thought anything i made was worth spending money on.

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Recently i had the the opportunity to sell my prints at a local book store that is connected to my work.  Unsure of how it would work out and a little afraid to step out of my comfort zone, i went for it and applied.

i was rejected.

im not going to lie…i totally cried (which i partly blame on pregnancy).  But i immediately chalked it up to the fact that i…well…sucked.  Then i remembered that before i had deleted my facebook (long story and also best decision I’ve made in a while) i had applied to sell my prints at an adorable little handmade shop in a near by cute little town and they were super interested (which i totally forgot about until today).  i think really the bookstore and i just weren’t a good match.  and that’s okay.

After bumming for about 10 minutes and feeling like a complete failure i actually got a couple more ideas for some prints that i want to create for some dear friends that are having babies a little bit before me and brett.  and boom!  total complete failure turned inspiration moment.  my normal self would have been like “well i guess i suck, ill most likely never paint again”, but not this time.  growth!

KatieFaceScan  BrettFaceScan

i love to make things.  i love to paint funny little child like pictures.  and that’s okay.  you don’t need to paint full on scenic, perfect piece of art to be an artist.  you just have to love to create.

so to any of my fellow closet “artists” out there.  keep on keepin on.  make things cuz you like to.  and if you make things and try to sell them and no one buys it…who cares!

so i guess this was my own little way of fighting the fear today.  posting these little things that Ive made that i enjoy and sharing them with you.

I hope you like them…and if you dont…thats okay too : ).

This weekend was full.  It was totally fun, but oh so full, and i find myself pretty exhausted from it all today.  The heat isn’t helping much (geez California with your 100 degree weather…takeachillpill).

We were lucky to spend some mothers day time with my mom yesterday and she and her boyfriend blessed us with a crib for our little lady!  We were so excited and let me tell you, standing in that ikea in front of a crib with my hands resting on the side of it was the most surreal feeling ever.  When did we become old enough to have a baby?  When did we go from “yeah maybe in 5 years…” to “hey maybe we could do this now?”.  Its so amazing and wonderful and terrifying and incredibly ridiculous all at the same time.  I’m so glad that I get to do this with Brett and when we talk about our little girl and the dreams and plans we have for our family I feel so lucky.  And when we talk about how scared out of our minds we are and how we have literally no idea what we are doing, I feel even more lucky that I’m not in this alone and that my husband is just as clueless and scared and excited as I am.  That may not make sense, but its oddly comforting.

Anywho…in the midst of hanging out with some of my favorite people this weekend I actually got enough energy to get our spare room in order for some baby craftin.  I really wish I had a before photo so that you all could be impressed with how much I did.  Our spare room was FULL of boxes, some empty and some full of random crap, from our move (no worries…i did not lift things…there was a lot of scooting, pushing and sweet maneuvering skills…but no lifting).  Our friend Eric came over and helped put up our curtains and my friend Faith and I hung out and made some pom garland for above the crib.  I did all this stuff before Brett came home from work so I could surprise him with all the good work i did : ).  Then he surprised me today by building the crib while I’m at work (we like to surprise each other with things).

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It’s definitely coming together and also has a long way to go, but I’m already in love with the direction its taking.  I’m on the hunt for a dresser to refurbish for the changing table, we have some shelves we’re going to hang above that, and im scouring all etsy sites for cute little prints to hang up.  I cant wait till that little white book shelf is full of books to read to our little Penny and it will be awesome to see her snuggled up to mine and bretts childhood stuffed animals (fuzzy the blue bear and bubba the dolphin).

I cant wait to meet this little girl that is just gonna rock mine and bretts world.  Shes already so awesome.

I came into work today and my boss asked me how my weekend was, and I couldn’t remember doing anything (pregobrain) and then I realized it was actually a pretty jam-packed weekend.

I spent Friday night with my sis in law (sizzle) who is also totally pregnant again!  Yay cousins in the making!  We ordered pizza and totally pigged out and then worked on some crafty things for our dear friend Christy’s shower (who is expecting a little lad in June…babieseverywhere!)  It was so great to just kinda chow down and chat baby and hang out with each other.  I’ve always been pretty close to my sister in law, but I’ve been way more thankful for her lately and her sweet baby wisdom…going through something as crazy and awesome and royally bizarre as pregnancy with someone you are close with is really quite special.

The shower was zoo themed and turned out SUPER cute.

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One of the ladies helping with the shower made these amazing little stuffed animal habitats.  It was really fun to get together and celebrate Christy and her little one on the way.  Also, there were some very legit snacks : ) (bonus!)

I was also able to squeeze in a lovely little coffee date, with a sweet lady friend of mine and an early morning showing of Iron Man 3 with our dear friends and neighbors the Jessens.

A funny little tid bit about this weekend was a little purchase we made while grocery shopping at target.  I’m only 21 weeks pregnant and my hands are totally already swelling.  The 93 degree weather we’ve had last week probably wasn’t helping much.  My wedding rings were getting a little snug…they weren’t too bad, but when they would start to feel a little tight and id start to kinda freak out and be worried that id leave them on too long and end up getting them stuck on there.  I love my rings.  They are super simple and very much me, but we decided to just be ridiculous and buy some giant fake rings to wear through my pregnancy.

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BAM!

If you know me, you know how funny this is, because this is SO not my kinda steez.  But it is kinda fun walkin around with this big ol ( genuine cubic zirconia) rang on my finger. : )

In other news…TOMORROW!  Tomorrow we find out what is growin in my belly and we are freaking out with excitement!  Can’t wait to share the big news with everyone!

Until then!

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This weekend we FINALLY got some of our shelves up in our new place!  I haven’t really been all that excited about our new apartment.  We moved from a place that we actually loved a lot to a new place that has some major perks.  Cheaper rent, smaller commute, and right next door to some of our favorite people.

I think a big reason why I’ve had a hard time adjusting is because we moved during the height of my first trimester tired-no-motivation phase.  A lot of things are still in boxes which is something I have a super hard time with.  I am a super crazy unpacking organizing machine…so having no interest in putting our house together for the first 3 months was a bit of a downer.  Ever since we got these shelves up though, I’m falling a little bit in love with our cozy space.

One of my favorite things so far has been this little coffee station.  Our new place has a teeeeny tiiiiny kitchen with no counter space at all.  So adding this one little shelf in our dining area for all of my caffeinating equipment was a super nice way to get some clutter out of the way.  There are still a couple touches that I’m going to add, hopefully next weekend.  But the more we do the more I enjoy where we live and the more I can picture our little family making sweet memories here.

Side note:  Decorating when you know you are going to have a little one running around getting in everything is a whole different vibe than the kid-less decorating.  I’m super conscious of the height of everything and making sure nothing valuable or unsafe is close to the ground…look at me…thinkinlikeamom…weird.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about this nursery business.  Mainly because its super fun!

I love the idea of having a black and white room with neutral tones thrown in there.  I’m thinking if this little one is a lady I’ll lean more towards peaches and oranges, and if its a lad…then mints and teals.  I read about Bla Bla Dolls over at this blog.   I looooove them!  It so hard to pick one as our favorite, they are all so adorable!

And dont get me started on the Land of Nod.  Everything is so dang dreamy there.

I may have to get some projects started : ).

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Today is my Friday which makes me feel all mushy and happy inside!

If you wanna add a little festive to your home this bunting is super simple.  All you need is:

  • glitter duct tape
  • bakers twine
  • scissors

Just cut the duct tape in 8 in. strips, fold over bakers twine, and snip little triangles on the ends.  Voila! Super easy sparkly bunting!

Whether you are taken or not, hope you are feelin the love. Happy Valentine’s Day friends!

I love my iphone and the fact that I always have a camera on me to catch memories in the making, but sometimes I do miss that big box of photos that I used to shuffle through by hand.  Instead of the good ol shuffling through photos by the swipe of a finger.  For mine and Bretts one year anniversary I decided to make a little photo book of all of my favorite photos living in my phone.  This was an anniversary gift, but it could easily be used as a little valentine prezzie for your special someone.

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One of the best things I’ve ever done is download the postal pix app!

If you havent heard of it, it is amazing!  You can go through your photo library and pick which photos you would like to order, specify the size, the amount of each and then pay for them and order them directly from your phone.  The quality is awesome and they get shipped to you in 3 days or so!  Its super easy and an awesome way to get your favorite pics from your phone to your hands!

All you need for this project is:

  • cardstock
  • washi tape
  • photo prints
  • sharpee

Mine was a small book of 4×4’s, which is perfect for our little entry table.  This was for our first year of marriage, but I’ll most likely do more as time passes.  So make a little photo book, theme it up, give a gift to someone special!  Its fun!

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